Thermoform packaging machines are known such as that described in EP 2 740 679 A1. For increasing the positioning accuracy of the films during cutting or sealing, the cutting station as well as the sealing station can be displaced in a direction parallel to the direction of production. To this end, a reference element, whose position relative to a packaging trough is known, is detected and the cutting station or the sealing station is adjusted on the basis of the detected position of the reference element and of the packaging trough position known relative thereto. This adaptation is disadvantageous insofar as the position of the respective station can only be adjusted relative to the entire film.
In practice, it may happen that certain sections of the films are distorted relative to one another. This may be due to the product fed into the film trough. The larger the distance between the respective section and the normally used conveyor chains of the thermoform packaging machine is, the higher may be the degree of distortion. In addition, this effect may intensify with each cut carried out in the film compound before the packages are finally individualized. This film distortion may then lead to inaccuracies during sealing or cutting. It is the object of the present invention to provide a thermoform packaging machine that is improved with respect to the above-mentioned drawbacks.